Take A Breath
by aLLiCaT225
Summary: Ian always gets what he wants, even if it means using another life as a negotiating tool. This time, that life is Riley's. Eventual Slash.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Wow I really love writing ****fanfictions**** for National Treasure. ****Haha**** Ok this one takes place right in the middle of the first movie (I still have yet to see the second one ****grrr****…) when Ian catches up with the team in Philly. **** Oh and duh ****its**** Slash, but we'll get too it eventually. ****Hehe****, I like making the characters work for ****it ::****Exasperated sighs from Ben and Riley:: Sorry boys ; )**

**Disclaimer: sigh I wish…**

Riley Poole and Abigail Chase ran for their lives down the crowded street of Philadelphia. Ian had found them somehow and was now hot on their tail. The pair raced to city hall, the Declaration tight in Abigail's grip. They bolted across the street, nearly colliding with an oncoming car. They quickly recovered and continued their sprint.

"Ian, they're headed for the breezeway, on the north side," Shaw spoke into his walky-talky, keeping his eyes on Abigail and Riley as he crossed the busy street.

"I'll be right there," Ian's voice crackled from the communication device. He burst into a run and headed to cut off Abigail and Riley.

"Watch it!" Abigail barked as she darted past the men and women in the breezeway. She took a quick look back. Riley was still following closely with Ian's men not too far behind. Seeing this, she quickened her pace.

Riley mentally cursed at the blonde and pushed himself to go faster. He looked back and saw why. Ian's men were right on his tail. He faced forward once more and plowed right into a pack of Philadelphia legislatures.

"Watch it! Hey, get out of my way!" He cried rudely, trying quickly to untangle himself from the bundle of well dressed limbs. But it was no use. Abigail was already crossing the street, the document still safely in her hand, and no Ian in sight. Riley was relieved, that is until Ian came bounding around the corner. His heart flip-flopped and he darted to the right.

Not realizing Riley had been there only but a few seconds before, Ian's men raced past him, still in pursuit of Abigail and the map. Ian grabbed Shaw's arm, stopping him. Shaw looked at him, confused.

"But, boss, the girl. She still has the--"

"Yes, I know," Ian said between heavy breaths. "But I think I've found a much better way to get what I want." A wicked smile formed on his lips as he stared in the directed the young computer genius had gone.

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**A/N****:I**** know, cliff hanger, I'm evil. But I just wanted to get this story out there as quickly as possible. Oh and I know that a lot of these kinds of stories are floating around but it would be really amazing if everyone who read it, reviewed. Please and thank you! And the next chapter should appear tomorrow **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: YAY! A new chapter! Thanks to anyone who reviewed the first one and my other Ben/Riley story **

**Disclaimer:****Pshhh****….yeah OK**

* * *

Riley raced down the busy Philadelphia sidewalk toward where he thought Ben's car was parked. Ok so he forgot, but who has time to remember things when you're being chased by a crazed assassin. He turned the corner onto an empty street and slowed his pace to a tired walk. His legs throbbed and his lungs burned, he desperately needed a rest. Riley quickly glanced around. No Ian. Phew. Relieved and exhausted, Riley ducked into a nearby alley way. He leaned up against the brick wall of the building, and shut his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, Ian Howe was staring back at him.

"Hello, Riley. Long time, no see."

"I-Ian," Riley stuttered, his heart now racing. "What are you doing here?" The computer genius huffed, lacking a sarcastic comment.

"Isn't painfully obvious?" Ian smiled maliciously. "I was looking for you, Riley."

"Why me? I don't have an invisible map on my back." Riley quipped. Ian didn't like that very much and responded with a heavy blow to the mouth. Riley held his face and doubled over in pain.

"You wanna try me with the smart ass remarks again, or are you going to cooperate?" He snarled in Riley's face. Riley just nodded and whipped the blood from his mouth.

"Good. Now, let's go." Ian roughly hoisted the young man off the ground by his hoodie. "Shaw, bring the car around." Ian spoke to his walky-talky. Moments later, a black van pulled up in front of Riley and his captor. Ian dragged Riley into the street, and toward the back of the vehicle. The doors were opened and Riley was thrown in.

"Ow." Riley groaned as he landed, hard, on his right shoulder.

"Oh don't worry, there will be plenty more where that came from," Ian promised as he climbed into the van and shut the doors, laughing at Riley's pain.

Riley curled up in a ball as the van started to move, praying that Ben would come to his rescue, like he always did.

* * *

Ben nervously paced back and forth in front of his father's car. What was taking them so long? He hoped that Riley and Abigail had been as fortunate as him in escaping their pursuers. Something inside of him wasn't so sure. He spun around and faced the back of the Deville; relief flooded his body as he saw Abigail heading towards him, the gray canister which contained the precious map, still in her possession. Ben ran to meet her half way.

She looked alright, the Declaration was safe, but something was still very wrong.

"Where's Riley?" Was Ben's way of greeting the worn-out blonde.

"H-he was right behind me a minute ago." She said trying to collect her thoughts from her fatigued, dismantled mind. "He probably took a detour to avoid Ian."

"Hmm," Ben said distractedly, glancing over Abigail's shoulder praying that Riley would dart out from around the corner, chestnut hair tousled from the wind, blue eyes wild with adrenaline. But there was nothing. And so more pacing ensued.

"I'm sure he's fine, Ben." Abigail offered as some form of comfort for the treasure hunter. Somehow he knew she was wrong. Riley knew better then to run off on an unexpected detour, especially when being trailed by Ian Howe.

"No, no. Something's definitely wrong here." Ben said, the wheels in his head starting to turn. "Even if Riley _did_ take a short cut, he would've checked in with me by now."

Abigail still looked skeptical. "You're sure about this?"

"Yes, I am!" Ben snapped. He hated when people questioned him when he was absolutely certain of something, much like Abigail was doing now. "Riley's a lot smarter than that," Ben added in a softer voice.

Just then, a shrill melody rang out from the front pocket of Ben's coat, making both him and Abigail jump. He took out the silver phone and looked at the Caller ID. The blue LED screen read _Riley's Cell. _

"Oh, thank god," Ben breathed as he flipped open the phone. His heart pounded in his throat as he put it up to his ear and spoke into the receiver.

"Riley! Are you alright? Where are you?" The questions flew out of Ben's mouth.

"Hello, Ben. Riley's a little busy at the moment so you'll have to talk to me instead," The sinister voice on the other end spoke. Ben's mouth dropped and the phone almost slid from his hand. _Ian._

"What did you do with him, you bastard?" Ben growled into the mouthpiece.

"Nothing he won't recover from. But that could change if the name calling continues, Ben." Ian said his voice laced with malevolence.

"I swear to God, Ian, if you kill him…" Ben trailed off. If Ian killed Riley, there would be no telling what Ben would do to that man. And Ian very well knew that. But he also knew that he would do anything to get the annoying little whiz kid back, which is why he was kidnapped in the first place.

"Now, Ben, I think you and I both know the kind of guy I am. As long as I get what I want, the boy will remain alive. And I think you have a very good idea as to what it is I want." Ben could picture perfectly the menacing grin Ian wore on his face as he spoke. It made him sick to his stomach.

"The Declaration," Ben choked out. "You want the map." He glanced down at Abigail, who he just remembered had been standing there, the whole time, hanging on every word.

"Oh yes, that would be nice, but you know what I would love even more than that?" Ian didn't wait for Ben's response before he filled in the blank for him. "I want you to find the treasure for me. And you have 72 hours to do so, or else he's as good as dead."

The blood drained from Ben's face. "Ian, tha-that's impossible!" He gaped.

"What? What does he want?" Abigail asked, not able to keep her mouth shut any more. Ben held his hand up in her face and she went back to silently listening.

"I'm sure you'll find a way, Ben. Or else poor little Riley here will pay the price." Ian sneered.

Ben gripped the phone tighter, as his enemy spoke again.

"Now, I have a few ground rules before you and Dr. Chase head off on your adventure."

"Go on," Ben said through gritted teeth.

"First off, no authorities," Ian instructed.

"Why would he call the authorities?" Another voice spoke out from the background. Ben's heart fluttered. It was Riley. "He's not exactly innocent either, although he wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't--" He was cut off by a loud thud. A pain-filled cry rang through the ear piece of the phone.

"Riley," Ben whispered, his voice sounded almost on the verge of tears.

"Speak again and you'll be spending the rest of the ride unconscious," Ben heard Ian threatening his friend. "Now Ben, where were we? Ah, yes, I remember. Secondly, you must check in with me whenever you find another clue. When you find the treasure, I'll explain everything else…and if you try anything funny, Gates, the things that will happen to your friend…well, just use your imagination." _Click. _

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**A/N: I feel so bad torturing Riley like that, but he's just so ****freakin****' adorable when he's helpless. Next update should be coming soon…so in the meantime review, review, ****REVIEW**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I just want to take a moment to thank everyone who has reviewed this story. Because of you this is going to be my most reviewed story and I'm so happy! So here's my gift to all of you: Behold, chapter 3 **

**Disclaimer: You're kidding? **

"Is he serious?" Abigail asked a very anxious, pacing, Ben. "72 hours to find the treasure?"

"That's what he said." Ben shrugged and tapped his chin thoughtfully as he paced. He needed to come up with some kind of plan, and fast.

"How are we supposed to do that?" Abigail continued her rant.

"Working on it," Ben said his voice coated in thin layer of annoyance.

"Well, maybe we could just--" The blonde began.

"Abigail, please," Ben stopped pacing and snapped. "I'm trying to think." He lowered his voice upon seeing her perturbed expression.

Hearing the faint undertone of begging in the treasure hunter's voice, she begrudgingly obeyed, folding her arms across her chest and leaning up against the car. She wore a pout on her face and tapped her foot impatiently, as Ben continued his pacing, trying to come up with some sort of idea.

But it was no use. Ben's brain was not able to function to its full ability at the moment. All he could think about was Riley, scared, alone and probably beaten. Ben cringed as he recalled what he had heard on the phone earlier. The sound of something hard connecting with some part of Riley's body, and his cries of pain that followed, shot right threw Ben's heart. He knew what Ian was capable of and if he didn't find that treasure…No. He wasn't even going to think like that. If he spent all his time worrying about the future, he wouldn't be able to get anything done. And time, at the moment, was a very precious aspect of keeping Riley alive. Ben knew what he had to do. He turned around to face Abigail, who sat up immediately, ready to listen to anything Ben had to say.

"Take the Declaration, and follow me." He instructed. "We need to figure out the rest of the clue."

Abigail responded with an affirmative nod, and followed Ben as he headed back toward Independence Hall.

* * *

"Get up, we're here."

Riley was violently shaken awake, and dragged out of the van before he could even remember where he was. "You know, there _are_ nicer ways to wake a person up," Riley snapped at whoever had awakened him, forgetting that his physical well-being was in danger.

"Shut up," The order came from Shaw, who, in response to Riley's comment, hit the techie in the back of the head with the butt of his gun. Pain shook Riley's tired body and his vision went fuzzy as he collapsed on the pavement.

"What are you doing, you idiot," Riley faintly heard Ian's British accent coming through the increasing darkness. "We need him awake for this." The Brit yanked Riley off the ground and pushed him ahead. The techie stumbled a bit and had to stop for a moment to keep himself from toppling over.

"Move," Ian demanded. "Now!" His patience for the geek was wearing thin. Riley clenched his fists, but obeyed. He followed the two men in front of him into an old, run-down building. He didn't recognize this part of the city, not that he was very familiar with Philadelphia to begin with, but it still did not give him a good feeling.

The building was dark and filled with a poignant, musty scent that made Riley wanted to gag. Ian's two men lead him down the dim hallway, to a small, windowless room, that reminded Riley all too well of his past.

"Get in," Shippen ordered, shoving the genius into the dark space. Riley lurched forward and landed hard on his hands and knees. The impact of the solid concrete floor shot twinges of sharp pain through his palms and knee caps. He resisted the urge to whimper, knowing it would give Ian much satisfaction to know that his evil plan was indeed working.

Riley was relieved when he heard the sound of footsteps exiting the small room and he felt the door close behind him. He rolled over onto his back, allowing his throbbing head to rest on the cold cement floor. He closed his eyes and began to drift off into unconsciousness, until he heard the faint sound of something moving in the shadows. Riley's eyes flew open and he sat bolt upright, looking frantically around the room for the source of the noise.

A single light was switched on and the answer to his question was revealed. Ian stood in front of the doorway, arms cross, mouth turned up in a smug, evil smile. "I'm sorry, Riley; I didn't mean to startle you like that." He said almost mockingly.

Riley scoffed. "Somehow I sincerely doubt that."

Ian took a step forward. "I'm really not a bad guy once you get to know me." He stated, the mocking tone in his voice coming through stronger than ever.

"Could've had me fooled," Riley shrugged, matching the Brit's scornful manner.

"Alright, enough chitchat," Ian's tone turned serious and he glared down menacingly at the young man. "What did the clue on the back of the Declaration say?"

"I-I don't know," Riley lied. "And besides," He added what was sure to be an unnecessary sentiment. "Isn't Ben going to tell you anyway?" This almost immediately tipped of his bluff to Ian, who drew his gun in response.

"Dude, this whole 'pointing-guns-at-Riley' thing is really starting to get old." The moment the words slipped out of his mouth, Riley realized that it probably wasn't the best time for sarcasm.

"I knew I should've taken the bloody Declaration over you," Ian waved his gun threateningly in Riley's face. "At least I wouldn't have had to deal with this back talk."

The computer geek couldn't help but smile to himself. Making Ian crazy had always been one of his favorite pastimes. But staring down the barrel of a firearm held by Ian wasn't, especially if that gun was cocked and his finger was resting on the trigger.

"Tell me what I want to know, or you'll be going back to Ben in a body bag." Ian sneered the warning.

"Are you sure that killing me would be the best course of action? If you shoot me now, you lose all hope of Ben finding your precious treasure," Riley shot back, his inward smile now beginning to appear on his face. By the frustrated glare that now occupied Ian's features, he knew he was right.

"Why you insolent, little…" Ian left the insult hanging in the air as he whacked Riley in the side of the face with his weapon, sending the younger man flying back onto the hard, unforgiving, concrete floor. He felt the blood drip down the side of his face and his head felt like it was going to explode from the sheer amount of pain it was in. Ian moved closer and finished the attack with a rough kick to the abdomen. Riley gasped as the air in his lungs left his body. He was thrown into a coughing fit, blood spurting from his mouth. The metallic taste of the blood made him want to vomit. But that urge disappeared as he saw Ian's boots moving towards him. Riley braced himself for another hit that never came. Instead, Ian knelt down before the computer genius and yanked up by his shirt collar, so he was staring right into the beaten man's eyes.

"If I didn't need you to get the treasure, you'd be dead right now," Ian hissed in his face, before shoving down to the floor. Satisfied, Ian stood up in one swift motion and strode toward the door, closing it with a thunderous slam. Riley watched the door for a few seconds, making sure that Ian wasn't going to come back anytime soon, before he sat up. He reached up and gently touched the bleeding side of his head. Riley looked at the spot in the room the Brit had previously occupied.

"I really hate that guy."

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**A/N: Poor Riley **** Don't worry, it will all be worth it in the end. The next chapter is really where the plot starts to get going. That should be up by either tomorrow night or Tuesday afternoon. Please keep the reviews coming! **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Ok so this chapter focuses more on Ben and Abigail and I think the next chapter might too…I'm not sure yet. But there is a smidge of Riley in the middle of this chapter ****cuz**** I mean, how could I leave that cutie out? You also see another side of Ian too, a possible set up for some ****IanRiley**** slash…****hmmm ;**** ) it's possible but I'm not sure yet. **

**Disclaimer: National Treasure ****is not and never will be…: ( **

Independence Hall had become less crowded since the last time Ben and Abigail were there, and Ben was grateful for that. He wanted to figure out the clue that was going to get the treasure and save Riley without having a whole swarm of tourists breathing down his neck.

When they entered the building, they jumped onto a tour that was just about to get started. As the tour guide went on and on about facts Ben could recite in his sleep, he and Abigail slipped away into the signing room where they could get some peace and quiet, at least for a little while.

"Ok," Ben said, setting the gray container onto one of the tables. "We have fifteen minutes before the next tour comes in, we have to move fast." He opened the canister and pulled out the document, handing if off to Abigail, who unrolled it and held it out in front of Ben. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out Benjamin Franklin's spectacles. Putting them on, he looked down at the seemingly blank paper. It now exposed the familiar clue: 'Heere at the Wall.' Ben stared at the clue for a few moments, before expelling a frustrated sigh and removing the glasses.

"Heere at the Wall," He muttered under his breath as he tapped his chin thoughtfully. "The Wall could mean Wall Street…"

"But what about the other part of the clue," Abigail asked. "Heere with two E's?"

"Well, Wall street follows the path of an actual wall built by the Dutch as a defense to keep the British out. The main gate was located on a street called Deheere, also two E's. Later, Deheere was renamed Broadway, after the British got in."

"So Heere at the Wall, Wall Street, Broadway…I think we just figured out this next clue!" Abigail exclaimed. She would've jumped for joy if not for the valuable document in her hands.

"I think we did," Ben matched her excited tone. He was now one step closer to the treasure, which means he was once step closer to saving Riley. "Pack your bags Abigail; we're going to New York." He took the declaration from her hand and rolled it up, sticking it back in its protective container. "When we get back to the car, I'll call Ian and tell him to meet us in New York City tomorrow morning."

"I'm afraid you and Dr. Chase aren't going anywhere, Mr. Gates." An unfamiliar voice shattered their momentary celebration. Ben and Abigail spun around only to come face to face with a horde of FBI agents blocking the doorway. One of them stepped forward, flashing his badge as he spoke again. "My name is Agent Sedusky, and you two are going to be coming with me. Now, hand over the Declaration of Independence and face the wall with your hands behind your back." He ordered.

Ben surrendered the document over to Sedusky as he and Abigail did as they were told and faced the wall. Their hands were cuffed behind their backs and they were escorted out of Independence Hall. One step closer to the treasure turned into about five steps behind in a matter of minutes. The clock was ticking and all Ben could do now was sit there and watch the time slip through his fingers.

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Riley didn't remember the point at which he had fallen asleep on the cold cement floor of his confinement. In fact, he only realized that he was sleeping when he was awakened by the sound of the door creaking open, and the stomping of heavy boots moving across the floor towards him. The computer whiz opened his eyes just enough to see the face of whoever was standing above him. It was Ian, and by the looks of it, he was holding a plate of something in his hand. Confused, but interested, Riley sat up. As soon as he did, a wave of dizziness hit the techie like a ton of bricks, causing him to wobble a bit and place a steady hand on his forehead.

"You hungry?" He heard Ian ask. Feeling the wooziness subside, Riley met his kidnapper's eyes with a bemused expression.

"You take me hostage, beat me senseless, threaten me at gunpoint and now you want to feed me?" Riley shook his head in disbelief. "I swear, Ian, you are one messed up dude."

"I told you, Riley; I'm really not a bad person." Ian countered, trying to keep the growing anger in his voice down to a controllable level.

"Whatever you say Ian," the geek rolled his eyes and returned to his recumbent position on the floor.

"Fine. Starve to death for all I care," Ian threw his free hand up in a fit of frustration. "It'll make my job a whole lot easier." The Brit faced the door and angrily stormed out, shutting off the single light in the middle of the room as he did. The door was shut once more, and Riley found himself immersed in the shadows.

* * *

"That's some story," Agent Sedusky concluded, leaning back in his chair and shifting his gaze back and forth from Ben to Abigail. 

"Well it's the same story I tried to tell you guys before the Declaration was stolen." Ben stated very matter-of-factly.

"By you?"

"No. By Ian."

"If this 'Ian' person stole the Declaration of Independence, how come it was in your possession when we arrested you?" Sedusky asked.

"I stole it to stop Ian from stealing it." Ben explained. Abigail defended him with a nod.

"Well, it looks like your job is done now, so here are your options—"

"Mr. Sedusky, I don't mean to interrupt, but there's still one very important thing I need to tell you." Ben cut off the FBI agent, already knowing what he was going to say. Prison was the only option here, but he wasn't going anywhere, not with Riley still in the clutches of that mad man.

Interested, Sedusky leaned in folding his hands atop his desk and looking attentive. "And what would that be. Mr. Gates?"

Ben took a breath and, after a long beat, spoke. "Ian is holding my friend hostage for the treasure, and if I don't find it within 72 hours, he's going to kill him." Ben hoped that if wouldn't have to come to this point, especially since Ian told them specifically not to get the authorities involved, but under these circumstances Ben had no choice.

Agent Sedusky nodded his head thoughtfully. "I see." He sat back in his chair again, looking down at the glasses that now resided on his desk. Ben watched agent Sedusky as he moved the colorful optics, alternating between the red and the blue lenses. As the lenses switched, Ben became fixated on the changing colors and how they affected the paper behind them. And that's when the treasure hunter realized:

"There's more to the clue."

And that's when phone rang.

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**A/N: I know, I know. That's about the oldest cliff hanger in the book. I'm sorry. But don't worry, the next chapter is where things start to get interesante****..so**** review and I'll write it faster…. **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: ****Ok, so this chapter's a little on the shorter side. It's mostly dialog and it took me forever to write because I kept changing which direction I wanted it to go in. But I think I finally have it figured out. So, Read, Review and be Merry. **

**Disclaimer: Not! **

The piercing melody of Ben's phone going off on Sedusky's desk made everyone in the Hoover FBI building fall silent and turn toward the noise. Ben looked down at the phone, the LED blaring Riley's Cell. The treasure hunter felt a pang of sadness shoot through his heart, knowing that when he answered the phone he wouldn't be greeted by a perky, "Heeyy Ben!" from his geeky best friend, but by an extremely greedy British man with a bad attitude. Ben glanced up at Sedusky, who gave him the 'Ok' to answer the call, recognizing the importance of the situation. With a shaky hand, Ben reached out, taking the phone off the desk.

"Standard tap procedure."

"Let's check the signal, folks."

The five FBI agents that were crowded around the desk all put on their headphones, preparing to listen to Ben's phone conversation with his former colleague.

"Lock in."

"Are we set?" Sedusky held one of the pair of headphones to his ear and all Ben could think was that Ian was definitely not going to be happy to have half a dozen FBI agents listening in on their conversation but Ian had no choice. It's not like Ben invited the FBI to come to Philadelphia, take back the Declaration and stop him from finding the treasure of all treasures. When Sedusky gave Ben a final go-ahead nod, the treasure hunter ripped open that phone so fast, its wonder it didn't snap in two.

"Yes." He answered, trying to keep his whirling emotions out of his voice.

"Ben, I'm growing impatient." The Brit snarled angrily into the phone. "Where is my clue? Time is running out for your friend."

"No, Ben!" Riley's distant, pleading voice emanated through the receiver from the other end. "Don't tell Ian anything!"

"Shut up, you insolent little rat!" Ian spat out at the techie, making everyone listening jump. The sound of a gun being cocked could be heard, before Ian spoke again. "Tell me everything you know, or I'm going to shoot him right now."

Ben took a deep breath, aware that all eyes were on him, anxiously awaiting his next move.

"Heere at the wall," Ben finally choked out the clue.

"What?" Ian asked, not expecting that from Ben at all.

"That's the clue," the treasure hunter explained. "Heere at the wall, with two E's in the word 'Heere'."

"And what does it all mean? Where do we have to go?"

"Hold on, Ian. There's more to the clue." Ben told him. The seven pairs of eyes around him swirled with confusion and astonishment. That was new.

"Is that true?" Abigail mouthed the question. Ben regarded her with a small nod and then went back to focusing on the more pressing matter on hand.

"What more?" Ben heard the tone in Ian's voice become less hostile, and for that he was slightly relieved, even though he knew the hostility and anger in the Brit's voice was bound to return as soon as Ben revealed to him his current location.

"Well?" Ian's impatience was starting to bubble up again.

Ben inhaled, bracing himself for Ian's reaction. After a beat, he said:

"I don't know."

"Ben, I swear to god, if you're playing games with me…" Ian threatened, his voice coming through the phone in a growl.

"Ian, I'm not where you think I am." Ben admitted, trying to do this a slowly and painlessly as possible. He knew Ian wasn't going to be truly happy unless the treasure was his and only his and he already proved that he was willing to resort to anything to get it. Ben didn't want to see what would happen if he didn't get it or didn't even think he was going to get it. Ben started to rethink his original plan as he contemplated the consequences of telling Ian he was sitting, chained to a desk in an FBI building. There was no telling what he would do to Riley at that point, and if he did decide to do the unthinkable, there was nothing Ben could do about it over the phone. Suddenly, a brilliant planned popped into the treasure hunter's mind.

"Where are you?" Ian asked, the fury in his voice rising.

Before Ben could change his mind, he immediately spat out, "New York."

* * *

**A/N: ****Oohh**** Ben, what are you thinking? ****Haha****, I'm not sure if I even know. ****Lol**** no I'm kidding. I pretty much have it all in my head it's just a matter of you know, actually writing it down. Oh and I promise…the next chapter will have more of Riley ****cuz**** you can't leave him out of any story too long ; ) So please review if you read it…pretty pretty please : ( **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Here's Chapter 6! Enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: If only….but I'm not so fortunate. : ( **

"You're in New York?" Ian repeated, as he loosened the hold he had on Riley's neck causing him to drop to the ground with a thud. The computer geek looked up at the older man from his position on the floor as the conversation with Ben continued. Riley could hear Ben's voice through the phone, and by his tone, he could tell that the treasure hunter was forming a plan. A small glimmer of hope began to rise up in the techie's heart.

"Well, no. I'm not in New York. Not yet. We're on our way there now."

"Ok then," Ian nodded. "I'm leaving now."

Riley widened his blue eyes in bewilderment upon hearing the Brit's sentiment. He had a feeling that this wasn't part of whatever Ben was cooking up. The panicked tone that engulfed the treasure hunter's voice told Riley that he was right on the money.

"Ian, no, you can't come here yet. We haven't figured out the rest of the clue."

The computer genius rolled his eyes. Good job, Ben, he thought to himself. That didn't sound suspicious or anything.

"Ben, if you're trying to stall, you're only hurting yourself. Keep in mind that you're friend has only a short amount of time left. He can't have you gallivanting around from city to city with half of a clue." Ian cautioned. The faint sound of a sigh came through the phone. Riley knew that sigh. It was a sign that Ben was giving in. He couldn't. Not now. So what if his life was in danger? Riley didn't want anything to happen to the person he cared about the most in the world all for the sake of saving him. Riley wouldn't be able to live with himself if he was responsible for anything that happened to Ben in any way.

"The first part of the clue told us to go to the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway." Ben told Ian. "Abigail and I were going to figure out the rest of the clue when we got there."

"Fine then," Ian ran his hand over his head and then rested it on his hip. He looked down when he spoke. "I'll be there. Tomorrow morning. 9 AM. Sharp. We'll look at the clue together. I'll even throw in the pipe from the _Charlotte_."

There was a long pause on the other line before anyone else spoke. Finally, Ben said, "We'll be there."

"As if you had a choice in the matter," Ian snorted the snarky comment into the phone before shutting it and placed it back in the pocket of his sport coat. He looked down at Riley, who sat at his feet, staring into oblivion. Ian left the room with nothing more than a scoff. When Riley heard the door slam behind him, and the footsteps in the hallway gradually diminish, the techie slowly got to his feet. His head was throbbing and his right side felt like someone had stuck a knife in him. He was sure that Ian had cracked a few ribs and that his head was going to need stitches. But he didn't care about any of that. As Riley stood, looking daggers at the door of his prison, all he could think about was Ben.

* * *

When the line went dead, Ben waited a few seconds before taking it away from his ear. He avoided eye contact with those standing around him as he threw the phone onto Sedusky's desk. Ben sat back in his seat and folded his hands on his lap, absently playing with his handcuffs.

"Ben, you told Ian that we were in New York," Abigail stated the obvious.

"Yeah," He sighed. "I know."

"He's going to be there at 9 o'clock tomorrow."

"I know."

"If we're not there, Riley's going to-"

"I _know!"_ Ben raised his voice and finally looked at Abigail. She jumped a little at the treasure hunter's harsh tone then looked down at her hands.

"I have no idea what I'm going to do," Ben said, his voice on the cusp of sounding desperate. He rested his arm on the chair and leaned his head on his hand. "I need to figure out the rest of the clue."

"Now, this clue," The voice was Sedusky's. Ben jumped slightly, not expecting anything from him. "It's on the back of the Declaration of Independence?"

Ben nodded, sitting up a bit. "Yes. That's correct."

"And you need to meet Ian Howe, at the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway, tomorrow morning or else your friend is going to be killed?" Sedusky tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Agent Michaels, get Mr. Gates and Dr. Chase a helicopter to New York City. Gates, you have fifteen minutes with the Declaration."

Ben and Abigail exchanged a glance. Fifteen minutes would definitely be enough time to gather the clue but Ben had a feeling that if they showed up without the Declaration, Ian might be a tad suspicious.

"Agent Sedusky, not that I'm not eternally grateful for you giving me another chance but, fifteen minutes with the Declaration isn't going to be enough. We're going to need to take it with us."

"Well then in that case I'm going to have to send a team of agents with you to-"

"I'm afraid that can't happen either." Ben cut him off.

"Mr. Gates, we're not just going to let someone borrow the Declaration of Independence and take it all the way to New York City."

Ben sighed. "I know, but I can't just show up with half the FBI on my back."

Abigail leaned forward, inserting herself into this debate. "Mr. Sedusky, what if you come with us to the city, but stay hidden until we call for you? That way, you'll know the Declaration is safe and if something goes awry, you'll be no more than a few miles away." She proposed.

Ben and Sedusky exchanged a thoughtful glance.

"That might work." Sedusky said as his way of approval.

"Yes," Ben agreed. "It just might."

* * *

**A/N: Ok…this chapter didn't turn out as long as I would've liked. But I don't ****wanna**** feel like I'm giving too much away in each chapter you know? If I make the chapters super long and have everything happen in it, there won't be anything else to write. So bear with me here. I know where I'm ****going ,**** I'm just giving it to you in little pieces at a time. : ) ****Please**** review! **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Ok so this chapter is where the slash starts moving along.****Its****kinda**** a filler chapter**** and I have the feeling that it might be a little bit random in its placement but I really just wanted to get the slash out there. Also, a significant amount of time has passed from the last chapter to where this one begins. It's only like a few hours but still, just thought I'd let you know. **

**Disclaimer: National Treasure is not and never will be mine cries**

"Ben, could you please stop pacing and try to get some rest?" Abigail called from her bed at the far end of the hotel room. It was almost midnight and Ben had been walking back and forth in front of the room for at least two hours, and it was driving Abigail crazy. Ever since they arrived in New York a few hours prior, the treasure hunter had been acting anxious and withdrawn, not saying much to anybody. When he and Abigail went out to grab something quick to eat, he hardly ate anything. Abigail was worried about him. He didn't seem like the type of person who would let something like this get to him. Something deeper was plaguing Ben's mind and Abigail was determined to fine out.

Realizing that Ben wasn't going to respond to her previous request, Abigail got out of bed and stood in his path. The treasure hunter, whose thoughts, had obviously been elsewhere, almost bumped right into Abigail. He jumped back and clumsily met the blonde's eyes.

"Ben, you should really go to sleep." She told him, trying to ignore the discomfiting look of disorientation in his eyes.

"No, I'm fine." He replied distantly.

"Ben, you're not going to be any help to Riley if you don't get some sleep."

"I'll be fine!" He snapped, turning away from Abigail and walking over to the window. Abigail let out an exasperated sigh. This was going to be harder then she thought. Who would have known Ben would be this stubborn?

"Ben," She said gently, approaching the treasure hunter. "Something's wrong and I don't think it has anything to do with the treasure, so don't try to act like it does."

Ben exhaled but said nothing. He kept his gaze on the New York City skyline. Growing very impatient, very quickly, Abigail grabbed Ben's shoulder and spun him around, forcing him to face her.

"Ben, talk to me." She pleaded.

He paused for a second, opening his mouth like he was about to say something, but then stopped, thinking better of it. He honestly didn't know what was bothering him. All he knew was that ever since Ian had kidnapped Riley, he hasn't been able to think straight. He glanced up at Abigail, who was still waiting for an answer, arms crossed and foot tapping expectantly.

"I've just…I'm worried about Riley is all." He said, hoping this would be enough to satisfy Abigail. But Abigail being herself, it was nowhere near enough. But she had a hunch as to where this was going. All she had to do was push the right buttons.

"Ok, that's a start. What else?"

"I don't—"

"You do." Abigail insisted. "Just stop and think for a minute. Now, when Ian first told you he had Riley, what was the first thing you thought?"

"Oh, I don't know. Probably something like, 'I hate that guy?'"

"Ben, seriously. Think."

Ben sighed. "Ok…when I picked up the phone and it was Ian's voice instead of Riley's…the first thing that went through my head was, 'I don't know what I'm going to do with myself if I never see him again.'" Then it hit him, like the answer to a historical riddle that only he knew the answer to. It seemed so clear now. He didn't know why he didn't see it before.

"Abigail, I think I'm falling for Riley."

Abigail didn't look remotely phased, almost like she knew it all along.

"See, now don't you feel better?"

The treasure hunter thought for a moment. "Actually, I do."

"I don't know why you didn't see if before Ben. I had it figured out since you two walked into my office."

Ben shot her a skeptical look. "Somehow I doubt that."

"Ok, you're right. I didn't. But I had it figured it out before you did."

She had a point there.

"Now, c'mon Ben, let's get to bed so we can wake up and kick Ian's ass."

Ben smiled for the first time in hours. "You got that right."

* * *

Riley had no perception of the time of day, as he sat in the small, miserable, room that he had spent the latter part of the day in. While he knew he could easily pass the time by just shutting his eyes and drifting off into a deep sleep, he couldn't bring himself to do it, and not just because he knew that he would probably be awakened violently by Ian or one of his flunkies, but because he couldn't take his mind off Ben. This had to be the most amount of time the two had spent away from each other since they first met a couple of months before the _Charlotte_. Riley didn't realize how much he missed the treasure hunter, until now. It seemed the more he thought about Ben, the more he longed for him. And the more he longed for Ben, the more Riley realized that…

"No," the techie thought aloud. "It can't be." But the more the idea crossed his mind, the more plausible it became. The first thing that he thought when he was captured was, 'Oh my god, I hope I get to see Ben again.' And the reason why he followed him to the end of the earth and back with no questions asked, wasn't because he was just doing a very good friend a favor…

Riley was in love with Ben.

"Oh god." The computer genius felt the thought hit him like a ton of bricks, and if he wasn't already sitting down, he probably would have fell to the floor from the sheer emotion of that revelation, and what a moment to realize it, too. When he was trapped, and beaten, in a dark room in the middle of one of the most deserted parts of the city. As smart as he was, he couldn't believe it took this long for him to figure it out. A thought crossed his mind. Did Ben figure it out? More importantly, did he feel the same way?

Riley found his train of thought rather odd considering the situation at hand. But then again, the thought of falling for your best friend doesn't really cross one's mind often even in non-life threatening situations. The computer geek's brain was whirling with emotions and he was almost thankful when Ian came pushing through the door, breaking the techie's thoughts, Shaw and Powell on either side. Ian made a gesture toward Riley, Shaw and Powell responded with a nod, converging on the techie and yanking him up by the arms. Riley felt a sharp pain in his right lung as he took a quick breath from suddenly being lifted. He hung there for a moment, looking at Ian with piercing blue eyes full of fury. Ian chuckled, noticing the geek's expression. He walked forward until he was face to face with Riley.

"I can't wait until we get to New York so I can see the look on Ben's face when he realizes there's nothing he can do to save you," Ian sneered.

"What are you talking about?" Riley spat back. "Ben has all the clues."

An evil smile appeared on the Brit's face. "Yes, but he doesn't have the treasure, now does he?"

Riley's facial expression never faltered, however inside, his heart dropped to his stomach. Ian had a point. Their deal was that Ben found the treasure in 72 hours, not just one of the many clues. Riley really hoped that New York City was the last stop on this wild goose chase.

* * *

**A/N: Ok so, the next chapter should come a lot quicker than they have been coming. I've been sick the past few days and I haven't been able to think. ****So sorry if this chapter didn't make any sense.**** Like I said, I just added ****soi**** could get the slash in there, ****cuz**** that's what the summary says ****its**** going to be. Ok ****im**** done babbling. Please review. C'mon this story has 30 alerts on ****it,**** I should be getting more then 4 ****reviews a chapter. Sorry if I'm being greedy ****lol**** that was just bothering me. Peace Out, Girl scouts :P **


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: So I FINALLY saw Book of Secrets tonight and OHMYGOD did I love it!!! Riley was just…****omg**** amazing and Ben was totally awesome too. The only thing that ruined it was that stupid ****BenAbigail**** kiss at the end and that girl asking for Riley's autograph. C'mon people!! You're totally not helping the ****BRiley**

**Disclaimer: Maybe in my dreams…but I don't think even then I'm that lucky. **

The small coffee shop across from Trinity Church buzzed with the energy of the New York City morning. But even the hustle and bustle of the busy city did nothing to keep Ben from looking around nervously and glancing at his watch every five seconds. Abigail peeked over at the treasure hunter from her place in the line. She didn't know how much more of this adventure the man could take. She doubted this isn't what neither him nor Riley signed up for when they started the hunt for the treasure. Abigail shook her head and faced the counter. The clerk looked to be about 17 years old and the look in her eyes said that she would rather be anywhere else at the moment. Abigail ordered the two coffees and went back over to her and Ben's table by the window. As she set the drinks down, Ben had just finished another obsessive-watch-check.

"Ben, relax. You still have about 10 more minutes before Ian shows up." The blonde said as a way of greeting as she took her seat across from the treasure hunter.

"What are you talking about? I'm relaxed."

Abigail sipped her drink and looked at him expectantly. "Ben, you must've checked your watch about 200 times in the past five minutes. They'll be here. Ian wants that treasure way too much to not show up."

Ben distractedly looked out the window for any sign of Ian before responding to Abigail. "Yeah," He grabbed his coffee and took a long sip. "I just can't shake the feeling that something is going to go horribly wrong."

* * *

The ride to New York had to be one of the longest, most uncomfortable experiences of Riley's life. He spent the entire trip squished in between Ian and Shaw sitting in silence for at least three hours. Riley was surprised that he lasted that long without so much as a sarcastic comment. Aside from that, he was also extremely hungry. He almost regretted not taking Ian's only offer of food. But then again, it was Ian and god knows what was in it. Probably worms, or poison, or… 

"We're here boss," Powell said from the driver's seat, shattering Riley's odd thoughts. "At the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway."

Now fully alert, the techie glanced around frantically for any sign of the treasure hunter. Even just a glimpse of Ben would make this current situation a little bit better.

"Pull over," Ian commanded Powell. "They've got to be around here somewhere."

* * *

Ben tapped his fingers on the table nervously, resisting the urge to check his watch again. The feeling of uneasiness grew more and more with every passing second. He just wanted this nightmare to be over and have Riley safely in his arms again. 

"It's 8:59, just in case you were wondering," Abigail spoke as if reading Ben's thoughts. It was scary how she could do that. The treasure hunter looked down at his diver's watch, and watched as the hands slowly moved to the position of the time he had been anxiously awaiting all day. He looked out the window just as Ian was stepping out of a black SUV parked across the street.

"Abby!" Ben jumped at least ten feet in the air. He grabbed the blonde's hand, nearly knocking the cups off the table in the process. He yanked her up out of her seat and out the door. The pair dashed across the busy city street and onto the adjacent sidewalk.

"Ian!" Ben shouted through heavy breaths. The Brit turned around at hearing the sound of his own name being called. He looked pleasantly surprised to see Ben and Abigail coming towards him, the Declaration in hand.

"Ben, how good it is to see you here on this fine day," Ian said in the most fake, happy, nice-to-see-you tone you would ever hear. "Then again, you didn't have choice." He curled his lips up in a smug smile.

Fighting the urge to pop Ian right in that arrogant mouth of his, Ben clenched his fist and said, "Where's Riley?" His voice demanding and urgent.

"Now now Ben, first things first," Ian wagged his finger, as if he was talking to a small child. "I still don't have my treasure and the deal was—"

"The deal _is_, I'm not doing anything until I know that Riley's still alive."

Ian scowled at the treasure hunter and his partner, and reluctantly, gave into their request. "Shaw, bring the little nerd over here…now!" The Brit commanded his flunky via walkie-talkie. Ben stared daggers at Ian and if it wasn't for Abigail's restraining hand on his arm, Ben would have been beating the crap out of his enemy.

"Why don't we continue this discussion elsewhere," Ian suggested, looking around at all the potential eyewitnesses.

"Fine," Ben agreed, realizing that having an audience might not be the best thing in this situation. "Let's go inside the Church, but not without Riley."

Ian shook his head. "You're impossible, Ben." His voice laced with growing impatience. "Shaw, meet us in the church."

* * *

Had it been any other time, Ben would've taken a moment to admire the beautiful architecture of the ancient masterpiece of a building. He made a mental note to come back when he wasn't trading a thousand year-old treasure for his best friend's life. 

"Now Ben," Ian spoke, taking a seat in one of the rows of pews on the left side. "Let's have a look at this clue."

Ben looked at Ian, making no move to go through with his request. The Brit expelled an exasperated sigh. "He'll be here any moment." And as if on cue, the side door opened with a creak that carried through the walls of the church. A small, hooded figure was shoved through the door, followed by the rest of Ian's team.

"Riley," Ben breathed, relief flooding his body when he realized that the techie was alive. Riley looked up at hearing the sound of his name. His youthful face was covered in dried blood and bruises. A cut slashed through his upper lip. Ben couldn't help feeling guilty. He never should've dragged Riley into this. But he couldn't help that now. The only way for Ben to make this right was to find the treasure of the Knights Templar.

"See, you're little friend is fine, for the most part at least," Ian patted the empty space next to him, gesturing for Ben to sit down. "Come on Ben, time is running out."

Not taking his eyes off Riley, Ben sank down onto the pew, placing the Declaration and the glasses in between him and Ian.

"Oh yes, I almost forgot," The Brit reached into his jacket and pulled out a very familiar object that sent a pang of betrayal through Ben's heart. "The Meerschaum Pipe. All yours."

Ben took the pipe from Ian's hand with a bit of caution. He tucked it away safely before reaching down and grabbing the canister which contained the Declaration, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible. Ben unrolled the document facing the side which contained the hidden map upwards. Ian took the map with eager hands as the treasure hunter took the spectacles and placed them on his face. The same, proverbial clue lit up the back of the document once more. Ben inhaled before reaching up and changing the colored lenses of the glasses. 'Heere at the Wall' morphed into 'Parkington Lane'. The treasure hunter expelled a relieved breath and adjusted the optic one last time. The clue now read, 'Beneath Parkington Lane.'

"Well its, uh, it's really quite something," Ben gaped, removing the glasses and handing them to Ian so he could have a look for himself. "It's really quite remarkable."

Ian took the spectacles and looked down a confused expression washed over his features.

"Parkington Lane?"

"_Beneath_ Parkington Lane," Ben corrected. Ian's eyes were still cloudy with bewilderment.

"But why would the map lead us here, and then take us somewhere else?" He asked. "What's the purpose?"

"Maybe your father was right, Ben," Abigail's Saxony-German accent came from the row behind them. "Maybe, it's just a bunch on clues that—"

"No," Ben cut her off, his brain whirling with possible explanations for the second part of the cryptic clue. "He's right. Parkington Lane has to be around here somewhere."

"A Street inside the Church?" Ian inquired. He never understood these clues.

Ben scrunched up his face in thought. "Not inside, beneath. Beneath the Church."

"Well then, let's go." Ian rose from his seat, scooting past Ben and stomping down the aisle of the church.

"Ian, wait!" Ben called after the Brit, gathering the declaration and glasses and shoving them at Abigail. Ian stopped and turned to face the treasure hunter. "Ian we don't even know if the treasure's down there."

"Only one way to find out," Ian said, gesturing at Powell and Shaw to open the door to the church basement. Ben waved Abigail over and followed the Brit to the front row, stopping as soon as he got to Riley. He knelt down in front of his friend and placed a caring hand on his knee.

"I want you to stay here, Ri," Ben told the techie, who nodded with understanding.

"Truth be told Ben, I don't think I could move if I tried," Riley winced a little as he took in the breath he needed to speak. The sympathy on Ben's face melted away into fury. He looked into Riley's crystal blue eyes.

"I will get Ian back for what he's done to you. Mark my words." The treasure hunter promised. The computer geek nodded as if holding back tears. Ben tore his eyes away, not being able to handle seeing the single tear that fell down Riley's face. He looked down at the younger man's knee, rubbing circles on the demin with his thumb, trying to regain composure.

"Ben, c'mon," Ian coaxed from his place in the doorway. "The clock is ticking..."

Ben expelled an exasperated sigh, before turning back to meet Riley's broken pools of blue.

"I'll find that treasure for you," He assured the techie.

"I know you will, Ben." The treasure hunter made a move to get up, but was stopped halfway by Riley placing his hand on top of his own. Ben glanced at their hands and then back at the computer geek.

"Come here," The older man reached out with his free hand and pulled Rily forward until their lips met in a soft, chaste kiss. Ben pulled away and stood up fully, in one swift motion. He moved toward the door, reluctantly breaking eye contact with the amazing aquamarine pools he fell in love with, as he descended into the dark unknown.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry about that guys, but come on, this moment was all too perfect for some Briley and I couldn't pass it up. Sorry, again, for any inconvienience this may have caused, but I think it was worth it, was it not: ) **


	9. Chapter 9

**((STOP))!!!!!!!BEFORE YOU READ ANY FURTHER, PLEASE GO BACK A CHAPTER. I ADDED SOMETHING NEW TO THE ENDING OF IT AND IF YOU'RE A BRILEY FAN, YOU'RE GOING TO WANT TO READ IT! I REPEAT, DO **_**NOT**_** GO ANY FURTHER UNTIL YOU READ THE NEW ENDING OF CHAPTER 8. **

**A/n: Ok, I assume if you're reading this right now, you have just finished reading the new and improved Briley-fied ending of chapter 8. In which now I can say, Here's chapter 9! Sorry this took so long **

**Disclaimer: It's not mine. Well, this chapter is, just not the people in it or the movie with the people in this chapter in it. **

Ben led the way down into the dark, musty basement of the Trinity Church. As he walked down the stairs, he kept his keen eyes peeled for a sign of any clue. But that was a lot harder than he anticipated. Half of his brain was still upstairs in the sanctuary of the church with Riley. The treasure hunter didn't want the techie to stay behind. In fact, that was one of the last things he wanted, but after seeing the current physical state of the younger man, Ben knew that it would be in Riley's best interest to stay behind, no use in him getting more hurt when he didn't have to.

When they reached the bottom of the staircase, Ben stepped aside to let Ian, his two men, and Abigail pass in front of him. But of course, Abigail just had to say something.

"Ben," The blonde whispered, pulling Ben out of the ear shot of Ian, Shaw and Shippen. "Look, cooperation only lasts as long as the status quo remains unchanged. Now I've been watching Ian, and I have the feeling that as soon as he gets his hands on that treasure, he's going to have other plans for you, Riley and me."

Ben stared off into space, contemplating what Abigail just said. She really did have a point, and a part of Ben knew that Ian probably had no intentions of giving Riley back, alive. And once he got the treasure, he wouldn't need any of them anymore. There was no telling what the man would do. The treasure hunter expelled a frustrated sigh.

"Well then, we have to find a way to make sure the status quo changes in our favor."

"How?"

"Working on it."

"Hey Ben!" Ian's voice traveled through the basement to where the treasure hunter and Abigail stood conversing about the growing conflict at hand. "I found it…him. I found him!"

"Of course," the treasure hunter came to the realization and almost slapped himself. "It's a name." Ben walked towards the far wall of the basement where Ian was standing next to a stone wall full of what looked to be tomb markers. "Parkington Lane. He was a third degree master mason of the—HEY!" Ben and Ian ducked out of the way as Shippen came and smashed through the limestone with a wrench. Abigail and Ben stood back as Ian and the others eagerly cleaned out the tomb of the shattered rock and removed the casket of the deceased mason.

"Careful," Ben cautioned, his love for anything of historical and intrinsic value kicking in automatically as he lunged forward to help them with the coffin. A popping sound followed Ben's words and soon the skeleton of Parkington Lane fell through the bottom of the casket. It hit the floor with loud thud and kicked up a cloud of hundred year old dust.

"Careful no one steps on him," Shippen half-joked as he and the rest placed the top of the coffin on the ground and out of the way. Shaw supplied the light as Ian and Ben peered into the dark, cryptic tomb.

"Well, what are you waiting for Ben? You still have to find my treasure." Ian gestured toward the mysterious sepulcher, which was his way of saying he was too afraid to go first. Ben looked to Abigail, who gave him a quick nod of approval. The treasure hunter sighed and took the flashlight from Shaw, shining it through the cobwebs and the dust. There was no telling what this was going to lead to, but Ben prayed that this was the final stop on this adventure. He took in a deep breath, inhaling some dust and debris as he did so, and hoisted himself into the tunnel, Ian following not too far behind. They reached the end of the tunnel, stepping out into a small, dark room. Ben shone his flashlight down the dim, narrow hallway and the around the walls of the small alcove, stopping when he came to a torch.

"Got a light?" The treasure hunter turned to Ian, who produced a lighter from his pocket. The ancient torch lit up the room, supplying a lot more light then the single flashlight did. Ben led the way down the corridor.

"Watch your step," He cautioned to everyone as they passed by and made their way down the dimly lit hallway. After a few twist and turns, the passage became wider, the floor turning from dusty rock, to old rotting wood.

"What is this?" Ian asked no one in particular, as he strained to get a better look what was ahead without actually having to step on the decaying timber. Ben made his way to the front of the group to where the Brit was standing. He looked down, taking the first step on to the wooden pathway. The ancient lumber moaned, and the treasure hunter guessed that this was probably the first step anybody had taken on this wood in hundreds of years. He progressed down the path cautiously, gestured to the others that it would be safe to walk on, for now. A few feet ahead the wood planking was cut off by a old wooden railing. The treasure hunter moved towards it, and leaned forward, waving his flaming torch around trying to get a better sense of his surroundings. Ian appeared next to him, not seconds later. "What's that?" Ben's former colleague gestured to the left.

"It's a chandelier," Ben announced. He touched his fiery light source to the old structure and, with help from Ian and Shaw, pushed it into the center. It illuminated the entire chamber, revealing ancient walkways and elevator systems. Everyone looked up in awe at the marvelous craftsmanship of it all.

"How do a bunch of guys with hand tools build all this?" Shippen asked.

"The same way they built the pyramids, and the Great Wall of China," Ben answered automatically, sadness shooting through his heart when nothing but silence followed his reply, half-expecting to hear a sarcastic comment from Riley about his conspiracy theory of how the aliens were responsible for creating the seven wonders of the ancient world.

"Alright, let's go." Ian said, not wasting anytime. He looked to Abigail to lead the way. She looked at him like he was nuts.

"I'm not going out on this thing," She protested. "That's two-hundred years of termite damage and rot."

"Abby," Ben's pleading voice came from behind Ian. "Please…For Riley."

Abigail sighed and, seeing the pure disparity in the treasure hunter's light blue eyes, gave in. She took a deep breath and stepped onto one of the landings. It creaked beneath her boats, but other than that, it appeared to be safe. The group moved on by one down the stars without any problems.

"If we just go a little bit further, we can take the elevators the rest of the way," Ben stated at large to the group in ahead of him. _This is good,_ he thought to himself. _Everything seems to be going smoothly._ Or at least they were, until the entire room started to shake, rocks and dust falling from the ceiling on top of the adventurers. Everyone braced themselves against the railings and the quaking stopped. Ian and Ben exchanged a look.

"Subway," The Brit guessed. The treasure hunter confirmed this with a nod. They continued forward, finally reaching the landing in which they could use the elevators; Ian, Shaw, and Shippen on one and Ben and Abigail on the other.

"It shouldn't be too far down," Ben said, peeking over the railing of the antique elevator. Ian regarded him with a simply nod of his head and then motioned to Shaw to start moving the elevator downward.

"Here, stop here!" The order came from Ben, who brought his elevator to a halt right in front of a very cryptic looking chamber. Ian obeyed, knowing that he was that much closer to getting his treasure.

"Well, this is it," Ben said, stepping onto the landing just outside of their, presumably, last stop on this long and enduring quest. Ian stepped next to him, awaiting Ben's next move. The historian walked into the room, searching for the next instruction or clue or something that told him how to get the treasure so Riley wouldn't die.

"What do we do now?" Ian asked, his British accent was laced with an edgy, irritated tone. "I don't see any treasure."

"It-it can't be," Ben muttered to himself. _Please, no!_

"What can't be?"

"It's a dead end." Ben regretted the second those words ever fell from his mouth. Ian advanced on him, eyes wild with fury, and overall disbelief. The treasure hunter gulped and took a step back.

"Ian, there's nothing here," Ben said, trying, but failing miserably, to reason with him. "That's it. There are no more clues. No more anything. It's over."

"I'll tell you what's over," Ian snarled, jumping back onto the elevator, as it ascended towards the church. "That's little dork's life."

* * *

**A/N: BUM BUM BUM!!! Muhahahaha review or else, the fate of Riley depends on it. Well not really, but it will make me wanna update faster : ) ****Oh, and sorry ahead of time for any grammar mistakes that may have appeared in this chapter. I wanted to get it posted as fast as I could and didn't have time to proof read. Ok, Review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: So I got a lot of reviews complaining about the cliff hanger, so I figured I'd get this out there ASAP. And, what do you know, I did. **

**Disclaimer: Must we do this every time? It's starting to depress me. **

Riley sat, anxiously tapping his worn-out Converse against the end of the wooden pew. The time was ticking by slowly. _Too slowly_, if you asked the computer geek. Really, how hard was it to go down, find the clue, get the treasure, give it to Ian, and rescue him? Riley thought for a moment, realizing that it probably was easier said than done, but still that didn't do much in the way of helping his short attention span and his inability to keep still for more than a few minutes at a time. At least he had the something to think about to make the moments pass by bit faster, or seem like it anyway. The techie replayed that amazing, long desired kiss in his head over and over again. He closed his eyes and left his mind drift into more Ben oriented thoughts.

Just then, the door to the basement flew open, hitting the wall with a loud thud that shock Riley from his utopian day-dream. His blue eyes flew open and he sat bolt upright, the sudden jolt sending shooting pains through his body. The techie turned to see Ian standing in the doorway, looking almost murderous. Riley's heart started to pound as the Brit converged on him, his hands morphing into fists at his sides. Fear quickly turned to utter panic as Riley came to the realization that Ben was nowhere to be seen. Was he hurt or worse…did Ian get his treasure, kill Ben, and now come up here to finish the computer geek off?

Riley's thoughts were once again cut off when Ian's fist connected with his jaw, sending him flailing off the pew and face first onto the floor. The techie gasped as the breath left his lungs and sent him into a coughing fit. He felt the stomping of Ian's heavy boots and saw them drawing closer to him. Stumbling to get to his feet, Riley was caught off guard when his attacker roughly hoisted him up by the hoodie, nearly choking him in the process.

"I have some bad news," Ian growled right into Riley's ear. "The great Benjamin Gates didn't find the treasure, and oh would you look at that? Time's up."

* * *

Ben didn't know how he and Abigail did it, but somehow, the two historians managed to get out of the tomb in a matter of minutes. They were now scrambling to get out of the tunnel and get up the stairs before it was too late.

"Abigail, get Sadusky on the phone, tell him it's an emergency," The treasure hunter order the blonde as soon as he cleared the tunnel.

"Ben I don't have a—" She began, out of breath from the strenuous workout of getting out of a secret ancient passageway.

"Here," Ben produced his cell phone and quickly handed it off to her. "Now go! Hurry!"

With an affirmative nod, Dr. Chase ran to the nearest window and started to dial the FBI agent's number. Ben waited a few seconds until her heard Abigail start explaining hurriedly their current situation to Sadusky, and then bolted up the stairs taking them two at a time. He finally reached the top landing and burst through the door, nearly taking it off the hinges.

"Ian, stop!"

The Brit looked up from where he held Riley his knees, fresh blood covering the computer geeks mouth, pointing a gun to the back of his head. "Ah, Ben, You're just in time. I would've just killed myself if you missed out on this glorious occasion."

"Let him go, Ian," The treasure hunter demanded, trying to keep the emotion in voice to a minimum.

"I'm afraid I can't do that Ben," Ian shrugged off the thought like he was dealing with something less valuable then human life. "You knew my deal; you broke it, so now your friend here shall suffer the consequences." Ian cocked his gun, taking aim at the back of the techie's neck.

"No!" Ben lunged at Ian, who at the last minute turned the gun on the treasure hunter. The bullet hit Ben's shoulder, sending him flying back onto the floor. He clutched the wounded area just as the crimson color of blood began to show on his jacket.

"Ohmygod, Ben!" Came Riley's broken cry, as the firearm found its way back to his head.

"Don't speak again," Ian sneered.

"Okay." The techie gulped, training his eyes on the injured treasure hunter. Ben made a move to get up, but was stopped dead in his tracks when the barrel of the gun was facing him.

"Where do you think you're going? Shaw, take care of him." Ian looked to his flunky and nodded toward the historian. Shaw walked over and yanked Ben off the ground, keeping a firm grip on his unaffected arm. Ian lowered his gun for a moment, letting out a malevolent chuckle.

"Ben, Ben, Ben. Always has to be the hero," the Brit shook his head and placed his free hand on his hip. "This whole thing would've never happen if it had not been for you. You're friend would've been safe and you wouldn't be standing here with a bullet in your shoulder, but for some reason, you take it upon yourself to do what is right. And now, because of your 'heroic' attempts, Riley's going to suffer tenfold." A wicked smile curled up the ends of Ian's lips.

Ben said nothing. He couldn't. His mind, for once, was completely and totally blank and his face, stark white as he watched Ian move towards the techie, and strike him across the face with his gun. Ben watched in horror as Riley almost landed face first onto the floor, thankfully stopping himself from getting a face full of tile with his shaky hands. The fresh blood trickled down his face and the techie let out the smallest whimper of pain, trying as hard as he could to stay strong for Ben.

"Now, Ben," Ian flipped his blond, sweat-soaked hair out of his face and turned toward the treasure hunter. "You and I both know that there's something you're not telling me about this so-called 'dead end'."

This made Riley interested. The techie wiped the droplets of blood from his mouth and raised his head, just enough to make eye contact with Ben. As the treasure hunter explained to Ian that a dead end was a dead end and that there was no way of ever finding the Templar treasure now, Riley saw the faint twinkle of a signal in the ice blue eyes of Benjamin Gates. The younger man looked from Ben to Ian and back again, questioning with his eyes, whether or not the look was legit, making sure that was what Ben wanted to do. He nodded with his eyes and Riley took a deep breath and waited a few seconds, before slowly getting to his feet.

"Hey, Ian?"

Caught off guard by the unexpected sound of the voice behind him, the Brit turned around as Riley's fist connected with his face, propelling him backwards onto the ground. What happened next happened so fast that to this day, it still remains a blur in Ben's mind. All he remembers was the sound of a gunshot echoing through the walls of the church, Riley clutching his side as the bullet entered his body, and faltering before collapsing onto the carpeted floor of the church.

* * *

**A/N: Ok so by now everyone probably wants to kill me, but you can't 'cause then I won't be able to finish this story and we'll never know if Riley survives…even though I don't think I have the heart to kill him…**** maybe ****beat him up quite a bit, but that's it. ****Review ****por**** favor!!!! **


	11. Chapter 11

**A/n: This is really short, but I just needed to get something out there after that double cliffhanger I put you guys through. **

**Disclaimer: Don't even go there, bro. **

Ben sat, alone; on the stairs of the Trinity Church alter just starring at the same spot on the floor for at least two hours now. The vision of Riley's body collapsing to the floor, replayed over and over again like some kind of sick movie. After that, it was like Ben's body was on autopilot, physically he was there when Sadusky and his agents came rushing in to arrest Ian and his men only minutes after the techie fell, but mentally Ben was at the hospital not moving from his side. He hadn't seen the younger man in hours, and the last time he did, Riley was being rushed out of the church and airlifted to a nearby hospital. The treasure hunter wanted to go with him, but was forced to stay behind to answer questions of both the FBI and the police. All in all, this had to be the longest day of Ben's life and it was far from over.

"How are you holding up, Mr. Gates?" The cordial voice came from the left; Ben recognized it as Sadusky's. The FBI agent took a seat in the spot next to Ben, who responded to his question with a worn-out sigh. "That bad, huh?"

"You don't know the half of it," The treasure hunter replied with a dark chuckle. "I just wanna get out here. I should be with Riley."

Sadusky nodded, feeling sympathy for Ben. "Well, you'll be able to do that in a minute, I just have to ask you one more question."

Ben scratched the top of his head, and then folded his hands in lap, expelling an exasperated sigh. "Ok, shoot."

"Why did you lie to Mr. Howe about not being able to go further and find the treasure?"

The treasure hunter exhaled. He knew this was going to come up sooner or later, and, admittedly, it must've looked quite bad risking Riley's life for the sake of Ian not getting to the treasure. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"And now?"

"Not one of my best," Ben confessed, with a nod. Sadusky chuckled at the other man's blatant remark, and then his tone turned serious once more.

"I think I would've done the exact same thing," The FBI agent told him. Ben couldn't help but look shocked. "The Templers and the free masons believed that the treasure was too great for one man to have, not even a king. That's why they went to such great lengths to keep it hidden."

"That's right," Ben agreed, his voice hollow sounding and distant. Sadusky placed a comforting hand on the treasure hunter's shoulder.

"You did the right thing, Ben. I know it doesn't seem like it now, but in the long run it will." The FBI agent produced a small piece of paper from his inside jacket pocket. "Your friend's at this hospital. Visiting hours are long over, but just tell them if they have a problem, they can give me a call."

Ben took the paper from his hand as if Sadusky had just handed him the treasure itself.

"Thank you," The historian's voice was coated with a thick layer of gratitude. "For everything."

Sadusky smiled and held out his hand for a handshake. "Anytime Mr. Gates. Just promise me one thing?"

"Yes, of course, anything."

"Promise me that you'll come back for the treasure."

* * *

**A/N: I know, I know. This chapter's mad short. I just wanted to get **_**something **_**posted so people wouldn't come to my house, torches ablaze and pitchforks in hand. The next chapter should be up in a few days, and Ben and Riley will finally be reunited…so yes that means Riley's alive, for those who couldn't already tell. Review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/n: Here's Chapter 12. I'm thinking I have about 4 more chapters left. I'm not too sure. It could be less it could be more, we'll have to see. **

**Disclaimer: You know the drill. **

Tiny droplets of rain fell from the dark, New York City sky as Ben and Abigail finally exited Trinity Church. The horde of emergency vehicles and on-lookers had dissipated down to nothing, which the treasure hunter was grateful for. He didn't want to be bombarded by reporters wanting to get the inside story on the events that unfolded inside the church. He just wanted to go see Riley. Make sure he was ok; apologize for everything that happened to him in the past few days and most of all tell him that….

"Ben?" Abigail's Saxony-German accent shattered the thoughts of the treasure hunter. "You know visiting hours are long over, right? They're probably not going to let us in."

"They're going to let us in," Ben argued. "I will _not_ leave that hospital so long as Riley's in it." A determined expression masked the features of the historian, his pace quickened and Abigail knew what was going through his mind. She jogged ahead of him and stood in his path causing the look of determination to shift to annoyance.

"Ben, what happened to Riley wasn't your fault," She insisted. "Ian did this to him, ok? There was nothing you could've done to stop this."

"Yes there was. If I didn't tell him to stay behind, Ian would've—"

"Ian would've shot us all down there and left us for dead." Abigail finished very matter-of-factly. Ben let out a frustrated sigh.

"Look, Abby, I don't have time for this," The treasure hunter walked past Abigail in the direction of the hospital. "Riley needs me. I can't let him down again."

* * *

"Excuse me?"

The nurse at the reception desk in the main lobby of "New York's finest hospital" looked up from her issue of _Cosmo_, giving Ben and Abigail a look that read 'I really don't want to deal with you right now.'

"What can I help ya with?" She had a Brooklyn accent as thick as her glasses.

"We, uh, are looking for the room of a Mr. Riley Poole." Ben informed her.

"I'm sorry, sir," Her eyes focusing on the pages of _Cosmo_ as she spoke. "But visiting hours are over."

Ben slammed his hand down on the top of the desk, "Look, Lady I—"

"I'll take it from here, Ben," Abigail intervened before the situation got ugly. She patted Ben's shoulder as a gesture for him to move out of the way and let her handle things. Reluctantly, the treasure hunter obeyed, crossing his arms and pouting like a child the whole way.

"We have special permission from the FBI to be here," Abigail explained. "I believe a Mr. Peter Sadusky was going to inform you about that?"

The expression on the Brooklyn nurse turned thoughtful. "Oh, yes. Debbie was telling me somthin' about that before her shifted ended. You must be, uh…" The nurse put down her magazine and reached for a hot pink post-it on the top left corner of her computer screen. "…Benjamin Gates and Abigail Chase?"

"Yes," Abigail nodded. "That's us."

"Ok, who was yous two lookin' for again?" The nurse readied her fingers on the keyboard.

"Riley Poole." Ben spat out impatiently, getting a 'what the hell is your problem?' glare from Abigail in response. The treasure hunter rolled his eyes and looked away, as the sound of acrylic nails met the plastic key board.

"Mr. Poole has just gotten outta surgery," The nurse read off the screen. She scrolled down the page a bit. "He's in ICU room 1776 on the 3rd floor." Brooklyn leaned over and over and grabbed two visitors' passes that had been put off to the side by Debbie earlier that evening. She handed them both to Abigail. "Stay as long as you'd like."

"Thank You." Abigail replied with a gracious nod and smile. She turned to face Ben, who was already half way to the elevator. Dr. Chase expelled an exasperated sigh as she once again found herself jogging to catch up with the overly anxious treasure hunter.

* * *

As soon as the elevator reached the desired floor, and the doors opened with a _ding_, Ben bolted out of the area and headed down the ICU hallway. The treasure hunter glanced at each room he passed. 1758…1759…

"Ben!" Abigail's distant voice came from behind. "Ben, slow down!"

But Ben wasn't about to stop. No, not until he was in Riley's room, right by the techie's side. 1765…1766…

The treasure hunter was getting closer and so his pace quickened to a run. A nurse distributing medicine on the floor came out of one of the rooms, taking Ben by surprise as he nearly collided with her.

"Sorry," Ben called over his shoulder, as he continued forward. 1774…1775…

The treasure hunter came to a halt when he finally reached his destination. Out of breath and breathing hard, Ben entered the room slowly. The only sound coming from the dim hospital room was the steady beeping of the heart monitor. Ben approached the far side of the room gradually. He reached the curtain that divided the room in half and pulled it back. Riley's motionless body lay in the center of the bed, hooked up to all kinds of machines. Ben's heart broke. He moved to the side of the bed, fighting tears all the way, and ran his hand through the chestnut hair of the techie. The gashes on the youngster's head had been stitched up and he wore a cast on his right hand from when he had punched Ian. A ghost of a smile appeared on Ben's face as he recalled the computer geeks heroic attempts, but then the traces of the small smile faded as he recalled what had happened just mere moments after that.

"How is he?"

Ben tore his eyes away from Riley's sleeping form to see Abigail standing at the foot of the bed. He didn't even hear her come in.

"I don't know," The treasure hunter sighed, returning his gaze back to the techie and reaching out to stroke his cheek. Abigail placed a comforting hand on Ben's shoulder.

"He's going to be fine, Ben."

"Yeah…" Came the distant reply. It was obvious the treasure hunter's mind was long gone. Without saying another word, Abigail slunk away to find a nurse and ask about them spending the night.

Not even realizing she had left, Ben pulled up a nearby chair and planted himself next to Riley's bed. This time, neither of them was going anywhere.

* * *

**A/n: I don't really have anything to say…wow that's a first. You'll have to excuse me, my brain's been kinda shot lately, from what, I don't know. All I know ****is**** is that all the creative juices in my mind are running dry. ****But, you know I think some reviews might help me with that problem…. **


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Yeah…this chapter was giving me a really hard time. I must've started it over and over again at least 4 times before I got to this, and even now I'm still ****kinda**** iffy about it. But that's ok. It's basically just ****a filler**** anyway. Well, yeah I don't know I just ****kinda**** wanted to get something posted. So this is it. **

**Disclaimer: ****Riley wishes he was mine. Or is it the other way around…? **

Four days. It had been four days since Ben moved a single muscle. Four days since he had gotten a good night sleep and a decent meal. And most of all, four days had gone by without hearing a single sarcastic comment from the man that Ben had fallen in love with. The nurse had told Ben and Abigail that Riley probably wouldn't wake up right away. She told them that the techie had spent almost 3 hours in surgery and was on tons and tons of pain killers. _"Poor kid's been through a lot," _She had said, and Ben couldn't help the wave of guilt that came crashing down on top of him as he looked down at his friend. When the nurse had left and went to check on one of her other patients, Abigail had given Ben another one of her it's-not-your-fault-Riley's-like-this speeches. The treasure hunter dismissed her quickly, sitting back down in the spot he had been for the latter of the four days.

Abigail, of course, was worried sick about Ben. He hadn't moved or done much of anything since the two of them arrived here some number of days ago. She tried to convince him that Riley was going to be fine, that he was safe here and wasn't going anywhere, and that Ben should probably get some rest and/or eat something. But Ben was stubborn and wasn't moving until the computer geek woke up. Finally though, in the afternoon of the fourth day, Abigail had finally convinced Ben to go down with her to the hospital gift shop to pick up something for Riley when he woke up.

When they returned from their little excursion, Riley still remained in the same condition they had left him in. Not that Ben figured anything was going to happen in 20 minutes anyway, but he couldn't help but keep that small hope in the back of his mind. With a heavy sigh, the treasure hunter plopped back down onto his chair next to Riley's bed.

"Ben," Abigail's voice was gentle as she leaned over the historian's now sitting form. "I'm going to go down to the cafeteria to get some lunch. You look like you could use the time alone with Riley."

Ben nodded without removing his eyes from the patch of oblivion he was starring into.

"Do you want me to get you anything?" Abigail asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"No," was Ben's simple reply. Abigail left the room without another word. The treasure hunter sat, listening to the haunting rhythm of the heart monitor for a few moments, before expelling an exasperated sigh and reaching into the plastic bag that Abigail had hung precariously on the railing of Riley's bed. Ben pulled out his gift for the techie; a book of Sudoku puzzles. They had always been one of Riley's favorite ways to pass the time, other than surfing the internet and going on Ben's dangerous adventures. The treasure hunter figured he had nothing better to do at the moment, and it was something to keep his mind busy for a little while at least. He flipped through the pages, finally settling on one that looked relatively simple. Ben grabbed a pencil from his shirt pocket and began the puzzle.

After a few minutes of playing around with the numbers and not getting the results he wanted, Ben let out a frustrated sigh and glanced up at Riley.

"I don't know what you find so fun about these, Kiddo." The treasure hunter said to the sleeping techie. Ben wrote a 9 in one of the boxes but erased a few seconds later when he realized there was one in the same row.

"I think you're finally better than me at something," Ben said with a chuckle, closing the book and placing it back in the plastic bag. Instead of sitting all the way back in the chair, the treasure hunter leaned his elbows on top of his knees and folded his hands, letting them dangle in between his legs.

"You'd get a kick outta that if you were awake right now," Ben's voice came in an undertone. He sighed once more and ran his fingers over his hair. "I'm so sorry about this, Ri. I really am. I told you that I would protect you and that nothing would happen to you and look where you are now." Ben rose from his chair and turned away from the computer geek's bed, not able to look at him anymore, the guilt was just too much to handle.

* * *

Riley was deliberating whether or not to open his eyes. More times than not, whenever he woke up from a deep sleep these past few days, he was either staring down the barrel of a gun or being forcefully dragged into some unknown building to be beaten and then find himself staring down a firearm. But he had a feeling in his aching chest that this time things would be different, but that was mostly because he could hear the faint sound of a beeping heart rate monitor and Ben apologizing over and over again.

"It's not your fault, Ben," Riley found himself saying. The techie opened his eyes and slowly, the hospital room around him came into view. He turned his head on his pillow to face where he had heard Ben's voice.

"Yes it is!" The treasure hunter went on with a frustrated sigh. "I don't care what anybody says Riley, it's my fault that you're—AWAKE!" Ben spun around on his heels, coming face to face with the crystal blue eyes of the computer geek. "Riley, you're awake!"

* * *

**A/n: See? Riley's ok. I already have the beginning of the next chapter started, so that should be up very soon. Like I said, I think after that chapter, there's only going to be about two more chapters left. So why not make the best of the ****time you**** have left and review: ) **


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: See? I told you it'd be a quick update. And it's a much longer one too. : ) ****Oh**** and the "historical facts" somewhere in the middle of this chapter…yeah I just made those up. There's nothing historical or factual about them. But then again ****its**** called ****fan**_**fiction**_

**Disclaimer:'( **

Ben almost couldn't believe his ears when he heard Riley's weak voice coming from behind. When it finally registered that the techie was indeed talking to him and it wasn't just a figment of his imagination, the treasure hunter spun around so fast that he nearly toppled over.

"Riley, you're awake!" He exclaimed.

"He's awake?!" Abigail's equally shocked Saxony-German accent came from the doorway. She shuffled over to Riley's bed, balancing numerous amounts of food-stuffs in her arms.

"Ok, now that we've established the obvious, I'm starving." The techie sat up in bed, wincing at the sharp twinge of pain in his side. "Ian, got me good, huh?" He said, trying to make light of the situation, as he always did. "What exactly did he do to me?"

Ben and Abigail exchanged a glance.

"I'm going to go get the nurse and tell her you're awake," Was Abigail's way of telling Ben that he could handle it. The treasure hunter made a mental note to kill the blonde as he sat down in the all too familiar seat next to Riley's bed.

"You have a broken rib, three more of them are bruised; you have a concussion and a gunshot wound in your left side." Ben told him in one breath. Riley's blue eyes widened.

"Oh, is that all?" The young man's tone was laced with that familiar sarcasm.

" 'Fraid so," Ben shrugged, matching Riley's fascias pitch.

"How long was I out?"

"About four days." The treasure hunter answered automatically.

"You've been here all this time, haven't you? Didn't move a muscle in four days?" The techie asked, even though he already knew the answer.

Ben nodded. "Yeah, it was driving Abigail crazy." He said with a grin. Riley couldn't help but laugh, even though it hurt like hell. When the sounds of the light laughter dissipated, a heavy, awkward silence fell over the room. It was only broken when Abigail and Riley's nurse came jogging into the area. The nurse gestured for Ben to move out of her way so she could check all the machines that surrounded Riley.

"Everything seems to be normal," She announced, before turning and leaning over Riley's bedside. "How do you feel?" The nurse asked, running her fingers through the tousled hair of the techie. Ben couldn't help the jealously that bubbled up inside him.

"Like I've been shot," Was Riley's answer. The nurse smiled at her patient's witty sense of humor.

"I'm going to go get Dr. Hancock." She left the room and the awkward waves began to creep up again. Ben shuffled his feet nervously on the white tile floor; Riley played absently with his hospital bracelet before taking a deep breath and saying the one thing that had been bothering him this whole time.

"Ben, why did you lie to Ian?"

The treasure hunter's head immediately shoot up. "What are you talking about?" Ben could fee Abigail's piercing eyes, burning a hole in his back.

"You told Ian that there was a dead end, that there was no treasure." Riley explained. "Why, Ben?"

The treasure hunter sighed and sat down at the foot of the bed. "Because I didn't want Ian to have the treasure and you."

"You mean Ian wasn't going to…" The techie trailed off, trying to process everything with his pain killer induced brain.

Ben shook his head. "No, he wasn't. He had no intentions of letting you go, alive, with or without the treasure."

Abigail was still a bit skeptical. "Are you just assuming this? Or do you know for a fact that—"

"Sadusky told me that Ian confessed to the whole thing!" Ben snapped at the blonde. A ringing silence followed the treasure hunter's shouted words.

"Ian told one of the FBI agents that he was planning on killing Riley, regardless of whether or not I found the treasure. He was going to kill us all." Ben said his voice now softer and calmer. "So I figured if he was going to do what he was going to do anyway, why let him do that and have the most valuable treasure in all of mankind?"

Riley shrugged. "I guess that does make sense." Ben moved closer to the bed and took hold of the techie's hand.

"I didn't mean to put the treasure before you, but I thought this was the only way I would have even the slightest chance of saving you, of saving all of us." Riley's lips twitched at the corners and Ben gave his hand a gentle squeeze. Abigail was paying no attention to the two. She left them to stare longingly into each other's eyes as she paced back and forth in the front of the room. She contemplated the situation that had unfolded that day in the Trinity Church, before coming to a shocking realization.

"Wait, so that means the treasure _does _exist?" Abigail asked cautiously, not sure if this was what Ben was getting at.

"Geez, Abigail, I'm drugged up on morphine and even _I_ knew that," Riley scoffed at the blonde historian. Abigail looked down at the floor, embarrassment turning her cheeks a soft shade or red. Ben snickered at the techie's remark, earning himself a look of daggers from Abigail.

"Well, we can't all be as smart as you, now can we Riley?" Dr. Chase turned from the treasure hunter to the techie when she said the smug remark.

"Will you two cut it out, I'm trying to think." Ben barked at the two of them. They were both acting like a couple of five-year-olds. The treasure hunter practically expected it from Riley, but it was just plain irritating on Abigail's part. Ben walked away from Riley's bed, trying collect his thoughts now that he was able to think coherently. Finally, after five minutes of intense silence, Ben turned to Riley and Abigail once more.

"We need to get that treasure."

Abigail expelled an exasperated sigh. "Ben, we're not going to be able to just waltz into the Trinity whenever we feel like it. After our little ordeal there, they really bulked up the security there. Do you know how many people are trying to get in to 'find' the treasure now? The place is crawling with tourists."

"Yes but, _we _are going to be able to sneak into the Church undetected." Ben challenged.

Abigail looked perplexed. "How?" The treasure hunter held up his index finger before reaching into his inside coat pocket and producing numerous maps of the city.

"I picked these up when we went to the gift shop," Ben explained, separating a purple covered one from the book. He unfolded it and laid it flat on Riley's bed.

"Ok, so here is Trinity Church," The treasure hunter indicated with his finger as Riley and Abigail leaned in closer to get a better look. "And here's Wall Street and Broadway. Now, to the Dutch settlers, Wall Street was once an actual wall, the boundary of their city, and in order to get clean water into the city, they built various tunnels and underground canals to transport the water from one place to another. After the British came and took over, they expanded the city, building over most of the tunnels, which still exist today, but very few know about them."

"So lemme get this straight," Riley spoke trying to take in everything that Ben had just said. "We're going to travel underneath New York City in order to elude guards and amateur treasure hunters, in hopes of getting our hands on the Templar treasure?"

The treasure hunter nodded. "Yes, I'd say that's just about right."

"Ok, I'm in." Riley answered without thinking twice, even though he was in no condition to be going on any kind of life-risking adventure. Ben smiled at the young man. Riley would truly travel to the ends of the earth and back with the treasure hunter by his side.

"What about you, Abigail?" Ben turned his gaze on the blonde. "You up for the final part of this quest?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." She said with a smile. Ben mirrored her expression when he spoke.

"Good." The treasure hunter shifted his eyes back to Riley and the smile on his face faded, only for a second, before turning determined.

"I'm going to go talk to Riley's doctor," Ben announced. Abigail gave him a nod of approval. "See how long he thinks Riley's going to be in here for."

"I'll go with you," Abigail offered. Ben flashed her a grateful smile, before once again, turning back to the techie.

"You'll be ok for a few minutes," The treasure hunter's voice came in a question. Riley smirked and nodded.

"Yes, Ben, I think I can manage a few minutes by myself." The computer geek answered. Without another word, Ben reluctantly turned away from Riley and went to follow Abigail out into the hallway. But when got halfway across the room, Ben stopped, turned around making a bee-line towards Riley. He reached the bed and gently ran a hand over one of the techie's checks before leaning in and kissing him. Riley reached up with his good hand and pulled Ben closer, deepening the kiss. When the lack of oxygen was beginning to catch up with them, they broke apart.

"What was that for?" Riley asked breathily. He winced as the air filled his oxygen deprived lungs.

"That was my way of saying 'get well soon,'" Ben grinned as the blush started to show on his cheeks.

"Well then, I guess I should have Ian shoot me more often."

Ben chuckled lightly as he stood up straight. "You should rest up," The treasure hunter advised. "Because I'm not going to leave you behind ever again."

**A/N: ****Soooo****….what'd you think of this chapter? Long enough for you? I'd like to hear everything you have to say…all you have to do is review. And I don't want to beg, but PLEASE!! I really want to get at least 100 reviews on this story. And time is running out…**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/n: God, if ****fanfiction**** chapters could kill…This one literally took FOREVER to write. I'm so sorry for the delay but I'm sure it will be worth it in the end. ****Well, it depends.**

**Disclaimer: What do you think? **

Three days later, Riley was released from the hospital. The doctor told him that he would make a full recovery in two weeks. So of course, Ben being, well, him, as soon as two weeks passed the historian led Riley and Abigail five stories under New York City. Though, if anybody told him that he'd be trudging around in yesterday's sludge, Riley would've stayed in the hospital.

"Ben, are you sure this was the only way in?" The techie whined, dodging a water droplet as it fell from the ceiling.

"Yes Riley, this was the only way in," Ben countered as he avoided a very dirty looking puddle. He shone his flashlight down the long tunnel that was once used for water transport. "Don't worry, we're almost there." He assured the computer geek.

"It's about time." Riley huffed. Though he was well enough to move around and get through the day without taking pain killers every hour and a half, Riley still wasn't up to his full strength. But he knew that this was the absolute last chance that they would have to retrieve the treasure, since they were due back in DC by tomorrow. Plus, after all he'd been through (getting held against his will, tortured, and shot) Riley was not about to leave New York empty handed.

The trio continued forward down the dark, dank tunnel. With each step they took, Riley grew more and more uneasy. Maybe it was just the fact that they were traipsing around in a two hundred-year old tunnel under New York City, but the techie had the weirdest feeling that they were being followed. He stopped for a moment, lingering to investigate the sound of what he sure was footsteps. Riley gulped.

"Uh, Ben?" He jogged to catch up with the treasure hunter. "I-I think there's something down here." The techie walked next to Ben, glancing around every which way for the owner of the supposed footsteps.

Ben heaved a sigh and continued on. "Riley, no one's been down here for at least a hundred years."

"Well, who says it has to be a person?" The techie gave Ben a look that told him he was about to go on about one of his famed conspiracy theories. "It could be an alligator, or a ghost, or mole people."

Ben chuckled and rolled his eyes. "I swear, you've been reading too many comic books."

"Says the one who spent half of his life searching for a treasure that no one believes exists," Riley countered.

"Touché."

"If Mr. and Mrs. Gates are through bickering," Abigail's voice came from further down the tunnel. "I think I found something." Ben and Riley exchanged a glance and headed in the direction of Dr. Chases' spoken words. They found Abigail standing in front of a cement wall, shining her light over the many different markings that covered it.

Intrigued, Ben moved next to her and began to examine the ancient symbols. Riley, however, was not impressed.

"Way to go, Abs. You found yet another dead end." The techie sighed, pessimism heavily coated his voice. He walked over to the far right wall and leaned up against it, allowing himself a long deserved rest. Abigail glared at Riley but her eyes were quickly averted back to Ben when he started to speak.

"No, I think Abigail's on to something," He said, running his fingers over the outline of the All Seeing Eye. "I think we've found a door."

"Ben, wait!" Riley cried throwing his hands out in alarm. "You don't know what's behind there. It could be the entire Hudson River! And as soon as you open it, this place is going to be flooded with water and we're all going to drown!"

"I don't think that's going to happen."

Riley placed his hands on his hips. "Well, how do you know?"

"Because I already got the door open," Ben gestured towards the now-open passage way, which aside from being extremely dark was perfectly dry. Riley looked away, embarrassed by his irrational outburst.

"Oh," The techie chuckled nervously, trying but failing miserably to play it off like he knew that all along. Ben rolled his eyes and ushered Riley inside of the passage way. That narrow hallway was even darker than the old aqueduct had been. They continued down the hallway a few more feet, before a torch that was hanging on the wall came into view though Ben's flashlight beam. He handed his light off to Riley and took the torch off the wall. The treasure hunter took the cigarette lighter he had held in his pocket for this specific occasion and instantly, the whole room was bathed in the orange glow of the flame.

"According to my calculations, the treasure should be just around this corner." Ben informed the others.

"I hope you're right Ben," Abigail's Saxony-German accent was laced with the smallest hint of doubt. She wasn't sure if any of them could take the disappointment of coming this far for nothing. Especially after all they've been through.

Just as Ben suspected, as soon as the group rounded the corner, they came to a stone doorway that had the same symbols as the one in the aqueduct did. The treasure hunter reached up towards the All Seeing Eye.

"This is it," He said. He took a deep breath. "Cross your fingers everybody…" Ben waited a few more seconds before slowly placing the hand on the ancient symbol. Riley could feel the hesitation and anxiety coming off the treasure hunter in waves. The techie placed a loving hand on Ben's shoulder, giving him the strength to push forward and reveal what was on the other side of that door.

Ben was the first to step inside of the passage way. His heart pounded with every step and he was pretty sure it was lodged in his throat. The treasure hunter walked forward into the room he was sure would be holding the greatest treasure known to man. But when they got there, he was horrified to see that he was indeed wrong. The room before them was empty, and looked to have been cleaned out hundreds of years ago.

"I don't believe it…" Ben breathed, looking around the room refusing to believe what stood in front of him. He felt as if he had just been smacked across the face. "I-It can't be." The treasure hunter's blue-grey eyes darted around the room for some sort of clue, some sort of sign that this wasn't over. There was nothing. He took a seat on a nearby stone wall.

"I need to think." Ben put his head in his hands and massaged his temples with his thumb. He heard a sigh and then his felt another body beside him. It was Riley.

"I'm sorry about this, Ben," The computer geek sounded on the verge of tears. Ben put his arm on the younger man's shoulder and pulled him in closer.

"It's ok, Riles. It's not your fault. It's mine for believing in a stupid treasure that I was too dense to see that it didn't even exist. It was a waste of time."

"No, it wasn't." Riley argued. "If you didn't drag me out of that god forsaken windowless cubicle in the middle of nowhere, none of this would've happened and I would've never met you. And think about the _Charlotte._ That was fun, right? I mean, we found out our financer was a traitor, we got blown up and we found that useless million dollar pipe that…"

"That's it!" Ben exclaimed, jumping up out of his seat. "The pipe! The Secret Lies with Charlotte." He took the pipe from his pocket and walked towards the back wall. As he approached, he could see a carving in the center of the wall. Ben looked down at the pipe and back up at the wall.

"Could it really be that simple?" He removed the stem of the pipe and placed the head of the pipe into the carved out space in the limestone. To his surprise, it fit. The treasure hunter then inserted the stem into rocked and turned. At first, nothing happened, but then a gust of wind came and with an audible scrape of stone against stone, a doorway to the left of them opened up. Ben grabbed the torch and darted in to the chamber, Abigail and Riley following not too far behind.

"Oh my god…"

There, before them stood the greatest treasure known to all mankind. The one nobody thought existed. The one people spent lifetimes searching for with no avail and here they were standing no more than three feet in front of it.

"Scrolls from the library at Alexandria, could this be possible?" Abigail said as she had already begun examining and marveling at the Templar treasure.

"I can't believe you did it," Riley said to Ben as they too stared in awe at the treasure.

"No, _we_ did it, Riley," Ben wrapped his arm around the techie's shoulder and pulled him close. "All of us, together." The treasure hunter motioned for Abigail to join in the group hug. "I couldn't have done it without any of you."

"As much as I hate to break up this sentimental moment," A voice from behind startled the three triumphant treasure hunters. They spun around and found themselves staring down the barrel of a gun held by none other than Ian Howe.

* * *

**A/n: Uh-oh! I know what you're thinking, "Why can't Ian just go away so Ben and Riley can live a happily ever after?" I'm ****sorry,**** you'll have to forgive me for leaving you in yet another cliff hanger. See I just got back from seeing Vantage Point and I'm in kind of a twisty mood. Review and the update will come faster! **


	16. Chapter 16

**A/n: Ok so upon finishing that last chapter, I came to the horrible realization that I had indeed wrote myself into a corner. (Now I know what the writers on Lost feel like) So this is what I came up with. Hope you like it. Oh and P.S. I think the next chapter coming up is going to be the last; that is if I don't come up with another shocking twist…nah I think you're safe from that. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own it I'm just an obsessed...pardon, PASSIONATE fan of the movie and all its characters. : **

"What's the matter, Ben? Surprised to see me?" Ian's lips curled up into an evil smile amused by the shocked expressions on the three faces before him. "I believe you still owe me a treasure."

Ben's fist clenched at his side. He had gone though too much to get to this point, there was no way he was going to go down without a fight. "I don't owe you anything." Ben spat out at the Brit. Ian chuckled.

"Oh, that's cute Ben. Maybe you're boyfriend can remind you of our deal, after all it was _your_ fault he got hurt in the first place."

A pang of guilt rose up in Ben's heart. He bit his lip and looked down at the floor, avoiding Ian's piercing glare.

"Ian, it wasn't Ben's fault I got hurt." Riley said boldly. He paused for a moment, closely examining the criminal's expression. "And you know that. So don't you _dare_ go blaming Ben for something you did, something he tried to stop, and something that could've been avoided all along if you weren't such a selfish, arrogant bastard!"

Ian was taken aback by the techie's strong words. They all were, even Riley himself. He didn't know where all that anger came from, but it sure felt good to let it all out. Though, looking back on it, it probably wasn't a good idea to make a desperate man with a gun angry. Riley's theory proved true when Ian shot a bullet into the air, making everyone jump.

"I won't waste the next shot on the ceiling." Ian growled. "Now Ben I want the treasure!"

"This treasure belongs to the world! It's not meant for one man and one man alone." Ben shouted defiantly. Ian shook his head and let out yet another manic laugh.

"You don't get, do you? You have the greatest treasure in the world all around you and you want to _give it away? _ You don't deserve the treasure."

"And you do?!" Ben challenged. "You blew up the _Charlotte_, almost destroyed one of the most important documents in this country's history, you've held someone against their will and almost killed them, and for what?" All for some dumb thousand-year old treasure." Ben shook his head and expelled a somber sigh. "You know what, if you want it so bad that you would go as far as killing someone for it, maybe you should have the treasure."

Riley and Abigail looked from Ben, to each other and back. They couldn't believe what the treasure hunter had just said. Ian couldn't believe it either.

"Are you serious?"

Ben nodded. "Yeah, I am. I don't want anybody else to get hurt, and obviously you more than proven that you're willing to do that to get what you want."

Riley couldn't believe his ears. This wasn't the Ben he'd come to know and love. Where was the Ben that had an answer for everything and gave up on nothing, no matter how crazy it sounded? Then the techie noticed something. All the while the treasure hunter was talking; he was glancing up and around where Ian stood. Riley smiled to himself knowing that this meant Ben was hatching a plan as he spoke.

"Well, uh, thank you Ben." Ian shrugged and lowered his gun. "And don't worry; I'll give you some credit for the discovery."

"Oh, you're not going to be telling anyone about who found the treasure," Ben said slyly. Ian's expression turned quizzical.

"What are you talking about?"

"You're not going to be telling anyone anything because you're going to be buried under a ton of ruble. Abigail! Riley! Get Down!" And before anyone knew what was happening, Ben drew gun and fired three rounds into the bedrock above Ian's head. The rocks came tumbling down in a cloud of dust. Riley, Ben and Abigail, dove for cover behind the Templar treasure. When the dust cleared, they stood up. Ian was nowhere to be found.

"C'mon," Ben said softly to the others as he ushered them towards the back of the treasure room. "There's a second exit out over here. When we get up to the church, I'm going to give Sadusky a call. He's going to want to hear about this."

* * *

Sadusky and his team of FBI agents arrived about an hour later. He sent them down to the treasure room per Ben's directions and explanation as to what had happened.

"Sit down, Ben," Sadusky gestured toward the empty front pew. Ben complied with the federal agents request and was joined by Riley and Abigail. Sadusky looked at all three of them and sighed.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Howe's escaped from prison. We had no idea he was going to pull something like this."

"Now, you know this is _Ian _we're talking about here." Riley leaned in and added his two cents. Sadusky chuckled at the younger man's ever-vivid personality.

"Yes, Riley. We're aware that the situation shouldn't have been taken as lightly as it was. But you did the right thing. I have a feeling this was the only way Ian Howe could truly be brought to justice." Sadusky paused, noting the apparent guilt that had washed over the treasure hunter's face. He sighed. "But, on a happier note; Ben, you finally found you're treasure."

Ben half smiled. "Yeah. Who would've thought that after all this time, the greatest treasure known to man was five stories under a church in New York City."

"So, obviously, all of you are going to get credit for the find and a percentage of said find of your choosing."

"Fifty!" Riley chimed him. Ben giggled and rolled his eyes.

"Riley, you know we'll never be able to accept all that." The techie's shoulders slumped.

"Yeah, I know."

"Why don't I let you discuss it amongst yourselves? I have to get down there anyway and see what my team's doing. Plus, I'd like to get a look at this treasure myself." Sadusky stood up and regarded all of them with a cordial nod before turning and heading for the basement.

* * *

**A/N: Wow. This chapter only took my like 45 minutes to write. Usually it takes me at least a few hours to write a chapter. ****Oh, well. Review and let me know what you think. Last chapter should appear before the weekend's out!**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/n: Ok, this is a very bittersweet moment for me. Here I am, posting the last chapter of my most favorite ****fanfiction**** I've ever written. If had the time, and the ideas, I would want this story to go on forever….but like everything else in the world, things have to come to an end. It just stinks that I'm ending it on Chapter 17…I hate ending stories on chapters that aren't divisible by five. I know I'm weird like that. ****But anyway, this chapter is kind of a twist (and I mean twist) of the original ending of the movie.**** I figured "Hey, since I already contorted and twisted the original movie, making it into a kick-ass ****fic****, why not continue the trend with the ending?" Ok, I've rambled enough. Onward to the final chapter! **

**Disclaimer: If I owned it, you wouldn't be reading this as a ****fic****, instead, you would be watching it in theatres and obsessively on your DVD players, ****cuz**** if I owned it, this is how NT would go. : ) **

_One Month Later..._

"Yes, you got it chief. Thank you, bye."

Riley hung up the phone and placed it back into its cradle that resided on the granite countertop before heading into the living room to join Ben. When the techie had left him last, the treasure hunter has his nose in a book, reading about some guy in history that did something important and had a lot of fun. Riley entered the room, 'shocked' to see Ben in the exact same spot as before. The computer geek rolled his eyes and jumped over the back of the couch, landing with a _plop_ on the empty cushion next to the treasure hunter.

"They want us in Cairo next week for the opening of the exhibit," Riley informed Ben, who nodded without looking up from his book. "They're sending a private jet," He added. Ben sighed, knowing where this was going.

"Riley, we've been over this," He said, slightly exasperated and finally looking up from the text. "It was too much. I couldn't accept it."

"Ten percent was _not_ too much." The techie countered. "I would've taken it."

Ben chuckled. "Yeah I know you would've." He closed his book and put his arm around Riley's shoulder, pulling him closer and planting a soft kiss on the young man's forehead. "Tell you what, next time we find a treasure that redefines history for all mankind, you make the call on the finder's fee."

Riley frowned. "That's not funny." Ben smiled and shook his head.

"Well, I'm sorry for your suffering, Riley," He said, kissing the techie's cheek. "I guess living in a million dollar house with the person you love doesn't suffice. You'd rather have all the money in the world. You know, that's a pretty lousy way to treat someone who saved your life no more than a month ago." Ben jeered playfully.

Riley dismissed the remark with an eye roll. "I like the house, Ben. And I'm glad I'm, you know, _alive_ to share it with you."

"I'm just glad you're alive," The treasure hunter murmured, resting his chin on the top of the techie's chocolate brown hair. "Promise me that on our next adventure, you won't go getting yourself kidnapped?"

"We're talking next adventure already?" Riley said with mock exasperation. "I don't know Ben, I don't think I can handle gallivanting around the globe, looking for untold riches and having my life at stake every 4.5 seconds." The techie grinned. "Awh, who am I kidding? Being threatened at gun point's the best part of this whole treasure hunting gig. Oh and speaking of new adventures…." Riley removed a folded piece of paper from his front jean pocket and handed it to Ben, who looked down at it, puzzled. "I, uh, found this in the attic. I think it _might_ be a treasure map of some kind…." Riley informed him with a wink.

"Ah, a map," Ben mused, recognizing the game the techie was playing. "And where might said map lead me to?"

Riley wagged his index finger in Ben's face, before getting up from his spot on the couch and sauntering over to the stairs. "I think a great treasure hunter such as yourself will be able to figure it out in no time."

THE END

* * *

**A/n: Well, there you have it. ****Sorry it's a little on the short, non-exciting filler side, but I figured Ben and Riley ****kinda**** needed this after all they went through. And I **_**did**_** say that it would be a twist of the original ending, did I not? ****Ok, let's play a game called "****Everyone who reads this ****chapter**** has to review" It's really quite fun. :) Thanks again to everyone who read this story. I really had fun writing it and I hope all of you had fun reading it. And****…(****(sniffs air)) Do I smell a sequel…****hmmmm**


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